Less is more for thrilling rear-wheel-drive supercar contender.

+Pros

–Cons

2016 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2 first drive review

09 Dec 2015David McCowen

Supercars are usually the answer to car lovers' questions - they are fastest, most powerful, expensive and exclusive cars on the road.

But this time Lamborghini is asking the question, and it's a big one: What if the race to build the fastest, most extreme and narrow minded performance cars has been detrimental to our driving experience?

What if we were wrong?

Meet the Huracan LP580-2, a less powerful, less focused and less expensive Lamborghini. It is a car that bucks trends to set aside lap times, outright straight-line speed and exclusivity in hope of winning over people who love driving.

This is the third chapter in the Huracan's story, a car that follows the all-wheel drive LP610-4 coupe and convertible duo, one that targets a fundamentally different audience.

It does away with Lamborghini's now-traditional all-wheel drive system, shedding excess weight and traction to create a pure connection with the road, freeing up the front wheels to focus on steering rather than propulsion.

It's a lighter, nimbler less powerful and cheaper version of a breed traditionally framed around "more" and "most".

As the new car is around 30 kilograms lighter than the regular model, engineers saw fit to re-sculpt its front and rear bumpers to balance the car's aerodynamics in line with weight distribution shifted aft to 40-60, front to rear.

2015 Lambroghini Huracan LP580-2. Photo: Supplied

Softer suspension allows more roll than the standard car, and harder rear tyres relinquish their purchase sooner than the sticky units fitted to the conventional Huracan.

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The aim was to make it an easier car to enjoy – mainly by lowering its ultimate limits so that the car's performance becomes more accessible to everyday drivers. It's a similar approach to that trod by Toyota's 86 - keep it simple, give drivers a chance to have a skid and a laugh, and shift the focus away from lap times and statistics. If those principles works for $30,000 machinery, can they be applied to cars 10 times that price?

Even at $378,900 plus on-road costs this Lamborghini is a perverse budget option, priced around $50,000 less than the regular Huracan and $90,000 under Ferrari's 488 GTB.

Those cars feature carbon ceramic brakes and magnetically adjustable suspension that are optional features on Lamborghini's latest offering, fetching $22,100 and $4860 respectively. While the suspension is a solid investment, we'd question whether the hardcore brakes are worth the spend, particularly as their performance deteriorated noticeably throughout a day of determined driving on track.

Slipping behind a flat-bottomed steering wheel bristling with buttons, this car features a digital dashboard with a customisable display similar to what you'll find in a Lamborghini Aventador - or Audi TT - along with a clever steering wheel home to everything from indicator and windscreen wiper functions to gearshift paddles and the three-way "Anima" toggle that shuffles the car between Strada, Sport and Corsa modes.

The street-focused Strada mode shifts gears automatically, quickly plucking high ratios to help the Lambo fly under the radar. Sport is the most dynamic setting, with a relaxed stability control system that encourages lairy, tail-out driving while retaining a safety net in case drivers find themselves out of their depth.

Corsa is purely about setting the fastest possible pace, so there's less sliding and more straight-line traction, along with harsh gearchanges punctuated by a kinetic thump with each pull of the paddles.

The brand retuned this Huracan's 5.2-litre V10 to produce 426kW of power – 23kW less than the regular model – which increases its 0-100 time from 3.2 to 3.4 seconds, an unmitigated disaster if you plan on buying a supercar to brag about it at the pub.

The difference is imperceptible for the rest of us as Lamborghini's motor remains a visceral thrill. It still presses you into its seats in the way only supercars can, sounding absolutely tremendous when doing so.

It can't match the tremendous torque or straight line speed of turbocharged rivals from McLaren or Ferrari – but once again, this car is more concerned about how you feel than what sort of numbers it can produce. That analogue, old-school and free-breathing V10 is a modern treasure offering rich rewards to drivers who work to extract every last drop of power. Full-bodied and linear, the two-wheel-drive Huracan has been retuned to deliver more progressive performance macros a broader torque curve, particularly when pushing beyond the limits of adhesion.

That's something the car readily encourages – particularly in sports mode – wagging its tail on the way into and out of bends like a Labrador keen for an afternoon game of fetch.

This is a playful machine, one that doesn't take itself too seriously, tuned carefully to extract as many smiles as possible from its occupants.

Like just about all supercars today, this Huracan has a semi-automatic gearbox with shift paddles. That doesn't really gel with its purist, fun-first ethos, but it is the only transmission Lamborghini intends to offer in this platform. There will never be a manual Huracan.

The transmission is a key element in the brand's quest to make the Huracan range a family of cars that offer everyday useability – at least much more than its V12-powered Aventador flagship.

The regular Huracan stands apart from previous Lamborghinis as it is fast and thrilling in the right circumstances, but it's also a car that can cope with everyday life. That car's immense grip, four wheel-drive traction and friendly dynamics make it an approachable supercar - the tame Lamborghini.

But this rear-wheel-drive version is something else. Lamborghini says the new Huracan has more mongrel than the standard car, a touch of wildness that rewards drivers prepared to have a go.

We spent a day flinging it around the Losail MotoGP circuit in Qatar, and found the car delivers a friendly mix of poise and aggression, allowing lurid second, third and fourth gear powerslides when called upon, or setting an indecently quick pace when driven with discipline.

Lamborghini's instructors were able to extract a top speed of 299km/h from the machine on the circuit's front straight without pushing to break records. They say the car will do at least 320km/h, and we don't doubt it.

In some ways you can't help that Lamborghini could have delivered more with this car, but the company's restraint has probably resulted in a better-balanced product. We didn't set a lap time or record acceleration figures in the new Lambo - that will be a job for a rumoured successor to the hardcore Gallardo Superleggera.

The best measurement of this model's success is how it makes you feel.

Driving this entry-level Huracan on track is a life-giving experience, delivering more smiles per mile than models focused on grip and go.

It represents a real paradigm shift for this class of car, particularly for people who buy a supercar to drive it rather than to be seen.

It certainly is a lot of fun. And in that regard, the slowest, cheapest and least exclusive Lamborghini may also be the best.